Chapter 14: Physical Environment and Community Health

Question 1

What are the purposes of the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act?

Answer 1

• restore and maintain chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the waters in the US so they can support the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and recreation in an on water
• return quality of surface waters to swimmable and fishable status

Question 2

What is a foodborne disease outbreak? What factors contribute to foodborne disease outbreaks? Name some common foodborne disease causative agents.

Answer 2

• occurrence of two or more cases
  of a similar illness resulting from the ingestion of a common food
• inadequate cooking temperatures or
  improper holding temperatures for foods (especially for bacterial outbreaks); unsanitary conditions or practices at the point of service, such as failure to wash hands (norovirus outbreaks); or drinking raw (nonpasteurized) milk (bacterial outbreaks)
• salmonella, hepatitis A

Question 3

environmental health

Answer 3

the study and mgmt of environmental conditions that affect the health and wellbeing of humans

Question 4

environmental hazards

Answer 4

factors or conditions in the environment that increase the risk of human injury, disease or death

Question 5

air pollution

Answer 5

contamination of air by substances in great enough amounts to harm living organisms

Question 6

Major sources of air pollution in north america

Answer 6

transportation, electrical power plants fueled by oil and coal, industry

Question 7

primary air pollutants

Answer 7

air pollutants that emanate directly from transportation, power and industrial plants, and refineries

Question 8

secondary air pollutants

Answer 8

• formed when primary pollutants react with sunlight and other components in the atmosphere
• When primary pollutants react with other atmospheric components, they can form harmful new compounds

Question 9

photochemical smog

Answer 9

haze or fog that’s formed when air pollutants interact with the sunlight

Question 10

industrial smog

Answer 10

formed by sulfur dioxide given off from faculties from using coal as a fuel; aka grey smog

Question 11

ozone

Answer 11

inorganic molecule considered to be a pollutant in the atmosphere bc it harms human tissue, in the stratosphere it’s considered beneficial

Question 12

thermal inversion

Answer 12

• condition that occurs when warm air traps cooler air @ the surface of the earth
• Caused by excessive lvls of ground level ozone

Question 13

sources of indoor air pollution

Answer 13

• asbestos (naturally occurring mineral fiber identified as a carcinogen)
• Old building have a lot of asbestos in it as fire retardants
• the asbestos fibres can get into air and people breathe them in - not good
• biogenic pollutants: airborne biological organisms that can produce illness
• combustion byproducts: generated by burning things
• Volatile organic compounds (VOC): compounds that exist as bakerse over the normal range of air pressures and temperatures
• Formaldehyde: found in aqueous solutions, found in many consumer products
• Radon: naturally occurring, tasteless, odorless and radioactive
• Environmental tobacco smoke: mainstream smoke, sidestream smoke, passive smoking
• Sidestream: smoke that comes off the end of smoking apparatus
• Passive smoking: involuntary inhalation of environmental tobacco smoke by nonsmokers
• mold : assoc w/ allergic reactions and respiratory difficulties

Question 14

who regulates outdoor air quality

Answer 14

Environment canada
National air pollution surveillance program (NAPS)
Health canada

Question 15

criteria pollutants

Answer 15

• Most pervasive air pollutants (they’re the worst)
• Greatest concern
• Ex. Carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ground level ozone, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide

Question 16

greenhouse gases

Answer 16

gases that adversely affect climate change, transparent to visible light but absorb infrared radiation

Question 17

Sick building syndrome

Answer 17

term used to describe a situation where the air quality in a building produces signs of ill health in the building’s occupants

Question 18

What role does the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) play in protecting the environment?

Answer 18

• the federal agency primarily responsible for setting, maintaining, and enforcing
  environmental standards or authorizing
  and overseeing state agencies
  that enforce established standards
• sets limits on how much of a pollutant can be in the air anywhere in the U.S

Question 19

What are endocrine disruptors and why are they an environmental concern? What are pharmaceuticals and personal care products and why should we be concerned with them?

Answer 19

• endocrine disruptors: chemical that interferes in some way with the body’s endocrine (hormone) system
• concern bc there’s evidence of adverse reproductive outcomes, and effects on the thyroid and brain
• pharmaceuticals and personal care products: synthetic chemicals
  found in everyday consumer health
  care products and cosmetics
• bad for wildlife and water sources

Question 20

How do communities ensure the quality of drinking water, and what steps do communities take to reduce the likelihood that their wastewater harms the environment?

Answer 20

• sanitation and treatment
• proper installation of septic tanks
• primary, secondary, and tertiary wastewater treatment

Question 21

What types of refuse make up our municipal solid waste (MSW)? How much MSW do we generate per person per year? What options do communities have for managing MSW?

Answer 21

• solid waste
• produced 4.40 lbs/person
• reduce reuse recycle

Question 22

What is a natural disaster and what is a complex disaster? How do disasters affect the health of a community? What planning activities can a community engage in to minimize the potential for and impact of disasters?

Answer 22

• naturally occurring phenomena or events that produce/release energy in amounts that exceed human endurance, causing injury, disease, or death